Global warming and cooling predates humans’ existence

Brad Lepper’s Dec. 12 column, “Archaeologists can contribute to the climate change debate,” contains an interesting fact about climate change: “...the changes in climate that marked the shift from the Ice Age to the warm and stable climate we’ve been enjoying for the past 10,000 years ‘were extraordinarily rapid, requiring human societies … to adapt on time spans measured in decades rather than centuries.’”

He concludes: “…by doing too little to reduce our production of greenhouse gases, we are faced with similarly profound and rapid climate change.”

Lepper’s fact is interesting because he states that this planet’s climate warmed to a significant degree more than 10,000 years ago – which is long before humans started to release CO2 into the atmosphere by burning huge amounts of fossil fuels. Accordingly, his lesson learned – that humans can stop this planet from warming – is incorrect.

The reason warming occurred is that Earth goes through massive warming and cooling cycles as part of nature, and has been doing so for millions of years before humans appeared on the Earth. Accordingly, it is incorrect to believe that humans can stop our planet from going through its naturally occurring warming/ cooling cycles.

But there are two very important things that we humans can and must do. We should spend whatever it takes to minimize pollution and adapt where we live to the Earth’s warming.

Ellery Block, Westerville